When Needed the Most
by Beckyhelene
Summary: Ana has a nightmare and Jack's there for her.


Disclaimer: I'm just a 20 year old college student, I own nothing.

Summary: Ana awakes from a nightmare to find Jack at her side.

Note: Since we don't know yet why Ana was in Sydney, I figured I'd just say she was there for vacation.

It was late. The sun had already set in the horizon and Ana-Lucia could see everyone settling in for the night. She sighed and poked at the dying fire before her, causing some embers to hit the sand. Once the fire was finally gone, she set the stick down and shifted on the ground before lying down on her back, blowing some hair out of her face as she got comfortable. She closed her eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. After seeing sleep wasn't coming instantly, she opened her eyes again. She stared up at the twinkling stars, remembering briefly times when she and Danny would lie under the stars together. She smirked ruefully to herself as she remembered one night in particular that had led in the conception of her lost child. She shifted on her back some more as she began to focus on the stars, clearing her mind. Suddenly, a face appeared above her, causing Ana to blink and shift her eyes to the blond hair hanging down. She barely had time to gasp before the face contorted into an angry scowl and hands clamped down on her neck. A few feet away, Jack was returning from restocking some water bottles at the caves when he paused, his eyes falling on Ana's thrashing form. He squinted in puzzlement as he saw her continue to thrash and claw at her neck. He saw that there obviously was something wrong and quickly made his way to her side. He slid his backpack to the ground as he kneeled beside her. As he got a closer look at her, he realized she was in the grips of a dream that, he could tell, would be best she was gotten out of. He gently took hold of her shoulders.

"Ana." He said gently, trying to rouse her. She only seemed to thrash and struggle more. "Ana, wake up." He said, shaking her a little harder. Her mouth opened as she began to moan and gasp. "Jesus," Jack muttered to himself. He lifted her up snaked an arm behind her back, holding her against him by her shoulders. "Ana." He repeated, a little louder. He slapped her face gently with his free hand. "Ana, come on, wake up." He pleaded, starting to get worried. Finally, much to Jack's relief and delight, her eyes snapped open as she panted. Her eyes moved about frantically before noticing she was in someone's arms. She blinked and looked up.

"Jack?" She questioned uncertainly. Jack gave her a half smile.

"Hey." He said. "Here, sit up." He said as he helped her into a sitting position before letting her go. Ana sat with her legs apart and her knees raised, leaning forward. Jack reached for his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. He moved and sat next to her, handing her the bottle. Ana took it and took a small sip before handing it back to him. "You okay?" He asked. Ana cleared her throat and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, just….a bad dream." She grumbled.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked. Ana shook her head. Jack nodded, deciding it was best not to pry or force her to talk about it. He just sat with her for a while and watched the waves crash on the sand. The two sat in silence for a little while as the wind picked up around them.

"What was she like?" Ana finally asked, breaking the silence. Jack turned and looked at her, meeting with her soft brown eyes looking at him inquisitively.

"Who?" He asked.

"That girl." Ana replied, as if that was enough of an indication.

"What girl?" He asked. Ana's eyes became downcast for a moment, giving Jack the answer he needed. "Oh, Shannon." He said. He looked away, unsure if it was wise to talk about her. Ana picked up on his uneasiness.

"Please." She pleaded. "I need to know." Jack sighed and turned back to her. He let out a sigh as he sat back, placing his hands on the sand. "I mean, I only knew her for those brief seconds, so I'm curious." Ana let out sarcastically.

"She…….She was Shannon. I'm not sure how else to describe her." Jack said, doing his best to avoid the subject.

"Mind trying?" Ana asked.

"Well, she had a step-brother……"

"Had?" Ana asked.

"He died not too long ago." Jack supplied.

"How, if you don't mind me asking." Ana asked. Jack sighed.

"Injuries that he got from a…….beachcraft falling off a cliff, while he was in it." Ana gave him an odd look. "What? After all the things you've experienced on this island _that _gives you pause?" He asked. Ana shrugged and took the bottle of water from the ground and took another sip. Jack sighed. "Shannon wasn't really ever the same after Boone died."

"Well, can you blame it? Someone you love is gone; of course it's going to affect you." Ana replied, thinking back to the child she'd never have. Jack sighed. "So, what was she like before he died?" Jack shrugged.

"I didn't really spend too much time with her. Maybe you should ask someone who had more interaction with her." Jack stated.

"I kinda get the feeling those are the folks who wouldn't be too bent out of shape if I got swept away by the tide." Ana stated. Jack couldn't help it as a brief chuckle escaped, which he quickly hit behind some coughs. He looked at her.

"You know, I'm a little worried about you being all separated from everyone like this." Jack pointed out.

"Do I need to repeat the aforementioned tide sweeping wishing people?" Ana asked. "Besides, Jack, I'm a big girl."

"A big girl that's got some demons." Jack replied. Ana threw him a glare.

"And here I thought you were a surgeon, not a psychiatrist." She said. Jack reached over and took the bottle of water from her and drank from it.

"It doesn't take a psychology degree to figure out you were just dreaming about Shannon." Jack replied as the tip of the bottle touched his lips. Ana quickly looked away, suddenly feeling vulnerable, as if he had just seen her naked or something of the sort. "I'll take that as a sign that I'm right." Jack said.

"It's not too difficult to figure out." Ana muttered. "Yay for you, you found out what's bugging me. Was the neon sign too much of a give away?" She reached over and snatched the bottle from his hands, causing some to splash out and hit his pant leg. Jack simply brushed at the tiny droplets of water and peered at her as she took a long gulp of water, obviously doing her hardest to avoid the conversation.

"You're just like her." Jack finally said.

"Like who?" Ana asked.

"Shannon. She was scared. She never really showed it, but I could tell. Especially after Boone died. Someone close to you leaves your life like that; you start to figure everyone's going to do the same, one way or another."

"I'm not scared." Ana scoffed.

"Uh huh." Jack said, not believing a word of it. "You're not scared, yet since you've gotten here, you barely talk to anyone.." Ana opened her mouth to reply indignantly and Jack continued on before she could say a word "maybe you're right, maybe some people won't hug you the second you approach them or anything, but come on. When was the last time you talked to Eko, or Libby, or Bernard?"

"When was the last time any of us saw Bernard?" Ana countered. "I mean, he and the wife _were _separated for over forty days. That's a lot of lonely nights to make up for." Jack paused. She did have a point. The last time anyone had seen Bernard, or Rose for that matter, was after Shannon's funeral, when they made their way to Rose's shelter.

"Okay, well what about Eko and Libby?" Jack asked. Ana shrugged. The truth was, she was pretty sure they all had abandoned her and weren't ready to embrace her again. She had made some bad choices in her panic state, of course, she'd admit that, but to know they all left her when she needed them most hurt her more than she'd be willing to let on. She could forgive Eko and Bernard. As much as Sawyer annoyed her, as a former civil servant, she understood Eko's need to get Sawyer back to the others. She could understand Bernard's reasons of abandoning her as well. If she had been forced to believe someone she loved had been dead for more than forty days, then found out they were alive, she'd be itching to get back to them too. It was Libby that Ana was having a hard time forgiving. The way Libby treated her in that moment in the jungle. She blamed Ana for Nathan when it was Libby herself who also voiced her own suspicions. Ana looked over at Jack and shrugged.

"They seem to be making some new friends just fine, no need for me to bother them." She supplied. Jack looked at her as she quickly looked down, her loose hair sweeping across her shoulder and hiding her face. Jack reached over and gently pushed her hair back, and caught sight of a lone tear rolling down her cheek.

"You don't need to pretend you don't care." Jack said gently. Ana gently swatted his hand away and turned her body away from him.

"I don't." She said. "It's not like it's a big surprise. People leave when you need them the most. I've gotten used to it." Everyone leaves, she thought to herself. Danny left when she lost their baby and needed his support, her partner abandoned her emotionally when she needed someone to help her through her dark time, and her mother abandoned her when she all but forced her to go away for a vacation instead of holding her and just telling her she loved her. Jack sighed. He scooted across the sand until he was right behind her.

"I'm not leaving." He whispered in her ear. Ana turned her head to him and stared at him in shock. Partly because she hadn't expected him to be so close to her and partly from what he had said. She sucked her lower lip in her mouth and looked down as more tears began to fall. Jack reached over and put his arms around her, pulling her close to him, her face pressed against his chest. Ana gently clutched and released the front of his shirt, making sure this was real and not just another dream. She closed her eyes as her tears continued to fall. This embrace wasn't like the one Eko gave her all those days ago. They both gave her support and told her that it was okay to cry, but the underlying emotion was different. Eko held her like a brother would hold a little sister who just skinned her knee and was bawling her eyes out from the pain. Jack, on the other hand, was different. After a while, her tears subsided but Jack held her still. It made Ana a little uncomfortable, but at the same time she was afraid of the impending release.

"Thank you." She muttered, her voice raw from emotion. She wasn't sure if thanking him was a good thing to say, but it was all she could think of. Jack gently pulled back a bit and tilted her face up with one of his hands.

"Feel better?" He asked. Ana nodded a little into his hand. Jack's thumb swept across her cheek, riding it of a remaining tear.

"I guess I should get some sleep." Ana said awkwardly, pulling herself away from the embrace, figuring it'd be best to let him go before he had a chance to let her go. Jack shifted back, sensing their moment had ended.

"Yeah, me too." He said. Neither had any signs of moving and just stared at each other, unsure where to go from there. stay here, if you want." Ana said, pretending to have an air of 'you can stay or you can go, I don't care either way', but Jack saw right through it to the 'I want you to stay, I need you to stay, please stay' core.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Jack said. Ana turned away as she shifted to lie down while hiding her smile from Jack. She heard the sounds of the sand being added extra weight to it and turned to see Jack getting up and picking up his bag. Had he changed his mind? Did she sound too eager and desperate?

"Wh-Where are you going?" She asked, wanting to slap herself at the obvious vulnerability she showed off.

"Just going to put these bottles with the rest of the water." He said. "I'll be back." Ana watched him carefully as he stood up straight and slung his bag over his shoulder. He gave her one last smile before walking off. Ana watched as he went to were the rest of the water supply was and emptied out the contents of his bag before setting the bag down beside the water. He then stood up again and walked back to where Ana was. Ana felt a strange exhilaration at the sight of him returning. She quickly settled down into the sound, trying to portray that she was just getting ready to sleep and wasn't waiting for him in the least. She lay on her side, her back turned to Jack's returning form. Ana heard his footsteps stop a few inches behind her. She then heard the sound of him loosening the laces of his hiking boots and pulling them off before lying down beside her. "Good night." He said.

"Hmm, night." She replied. She bent her right arm at the elbow and rested her head against it, her other arm simply lying on her side. She was caught off guard when she felt Jack's hand on her shoulder before it swept down to her arm. Ana gave a soft gulp and the feelings his touch evoked in her. Something inside her made her shift backward, her back lightly brushing up against his chest. Jack felt that she was trying and figured to make things easier for her. His hand moved across her waist and he moved closer to her, holding her against his body and resting his head right by her, his breath hitting her arm as he breathed. Ana closed her eyes gently as she felt his breathing slow down, signifying he was fast asleep. The sound of air passing through his nostrils lulled her into a sweet and peaceful sleep.

The End


End file.
